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Man arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife — while she was sleeping

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 46-year old man who is accused of assaulting his wife at their home in Pago Pago while he was heavily intoxicated told police that the reason he did this was because he wanted to discipline his wife for disrespecting him in front of her family and their friends.

The defendant spent two night at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) before making his initial appearance in District Court last week, where he entered a not guilty plea to the two misdemeanor charges against him.

The government charged the defendant with 3rd degree assault and public peace disturbance. He was released on his own recognizance by the court subject to the conditions that he find another place to stay, and refrain from trying to make any more contact with his wife.

The case was reported to police by the victim’s brother, who noticed bruises on his sister’s face early Saturday morning, June 13th, 2020. Asking his sister what happened, the victim replied that her husband beat her up the night before while he was intoxicated, but she didn’t want to report the matter to police because she was at fault.

The victim’s brother did not accept his sister’s explanation and contacted the Tafuna Police Substation and reported the matter.

When questioned by police officers, the victim stated that she’s not blaming her husband for what he did to her because, she started the argument. She was disappointed when her husband used money from their children’s saving to buy beer with his friend.

However, she later figured out that her husband and his friend, who worked to fix their house the whole week, deserved a break and something to drink.

The government claims the alleged incident happened on Saturday night when the defendant heard his wife calling out his friend’s name telling him to find another place to drink beer.

The defendant confronted his wife and asked her why she treated his friend in such a rude manner. The wife fired back in a high tone and questioned her husband about why he used money from their children’s saving to buy their beer. The defendant then left the house with his friend and returned home two hours later very intoxicated and while his wife and children were asleep, the defendant allegedly assaulted his wife.

When questioned by police, the defendant admitted to the allegation and immediately apologized for his action.